Statin side-effect risk uncovered

GPs should think more carefully about
prescribing cholesterol-busting drugs say researchers who
highlighted a range of "unintended" side effects.

Some doses and types of statins are linked with a greater risk
of adverse effects, including liver problems and kidney failure,
the UK research showed.

Doctors will have access to a computer programme based on the
findings to help spot those most at risk.

Millions of UK adults take the drugs to reduce heart attack and
stroke risk.

The researchers, from the University of Nottingham, stressed
that for many people the benefits of statins outweighed any adverse
effects, but the findings would help weigh up the pros and cons in
each patient.

For people with, or
at high risk of heart disease, the benefits of statins far outweigh
this risk

There are plans to prescribe statins on the NHS in around one in
four adults aged over 40.

The Department of Health had predicted prescriptions for the
drugs would rise by 30% a year, as GPs find more and more people
eligible.

At the moment, anyone judged to have a one in five or greater
risk of developing cardiovascular disease over 10 years is advised
to take a statin.

But there has been much debate over side effects and the latest
research set out to confirm where the problems may lie in a "real
life" population.

Unintended effects

Researchers looked at data from more than two million 30-84
year-olds from GP practices in England and Wales over a six-year
period.

Adverse effects identified in the study, published in the
British Medical Journal, include liver problems, acute kidney
failure, muscle weakness and cataracts.

For kidney failure and liver dysfunction, higher doses of the
drugs seemed to be associated with greater risk.

Risks of side-effects were greatest in the first year of
use.

On the positive side, the analysis also showed no significant
association between the use of statins and the risk of Parkinson's
disease, rheumatoid arthritis, blood clot, dementia, osteoporotic
fracture, or many cancers including gastric, colon, lung, renal,
breast or prostate.

Figures were similar for men, except there would
be 110 extra cases of muscle weakness

Study leader Professor Julia Hippisley-Cox, who also works as a
GP, said the computer programme they had devised meant GPs could
work out which patients were most at risk of side-effects and
whether their risk of heart disease was high enough to warrant them
taking statins.

"People should be able to make an informed choice," she
said.

"There are risks and benefits to all medicines, but if you have
a patient at higher risk than average of something serious you
might want to warn them to come back if they have problems."

June Davison, cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation,
said: "We already know that a small number of people taking statins
experience unwanted side effects.

"However, for people with, or at high risk of heart disease, the
benefits of statins far outweigh this risk.

"Anybody experiencing side effects while taking statins should
speak to their doctor."